Words: Jackpot
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Jackpot
WITH half the nation down with Lottery fever, the jackpot has become the talisman of our times. For dedicated punters it is the Holy Grail, the Eternal City and the philosopher's stone rolled into one. So it's salutary to note that 80 years ago, when the word was only three or four decades old, it was already being used as a synonym for trouble.
Jackson and Hellyer's Vocabulary of Criminal Slang of 1914, cited in the OED, defines jackpot as "a dilemma, a difficult strait, a retribution, trouble, an arrest". Back in 1881 a periodical called the Harvard Lampoon declared that "s are often a snake in the grass".
The Harvard reference was to poker, then a new craze in America, and the jack was what Nancy Mitford would have called the knave - the humblest court card. In one version of the game the preliminary stakes going into the pool (or pot) kept on being doubled till someone drew a pair of jacks or better, at which the bidding proper began and the pot might grow temptingly large, encouraging rash overbidding and eventual mortification. I could find no explanation for Jackson and Hellyer's criminals (Webster has "a tight spot"), but one can imagine that the jackpot was a dream haul, and that the "difficult strait" was a question of measuring the prize against the risks involved in stealing it, the "retribution" being the price of failure. The Australian syndicate that planned to scoop yesterday's rollover Lottery jackpot may have been thinking along similar lines.
The playing-card character was a palace servant. In the Middle Ages a Jack was any common man, as he still is in expressions like "every man Jack", or as a form of address when the name isn't known ("Jimma" among some Scotsmen). In the Beefsteak they call the club servants Charles for the same reason.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments